"Women and children last" CD by Murderdolls

by Dom Lawson (01.10.2010) It´s hard to know whether Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13 will be horrified or delighted to discover that after a six-year hiatus, Murderdolls are duty bound to reacquaint the world with the notion of balls-out, snot-splattered Rock’n’Roll for a second time. The band’s blend of Horror-Punk and Sleaze Metal was executed with a certain swagger on their Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls debut, but Women And Children Last is an entirely different and much more convincingly powerful beast. This is a much tougher, heavier and more sonically robust incarnation of the band, with less goofiness and a tangible intensity that was barely hinted at previously. Kicking off with the yob metal call-to-arms of Chapel Of Blood and rampaging through a further 13 irresistibly cocksure and perversely catchy anthems, ranging from the sublime radio rock of Summertime Suicide to the rib-shattering urgency of Rock ‘N’Roll Is All I Got, this demands to be regarded as the moment that Murderdolls stopped being a cartoon and morphed into a terrifyingly real and wildly compelling Rock’n’Roll band for the modern age.When Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars pops up to add some deliciously unhinged lead breaks to a couple of tracks, it’s as if a stirring passing of the torch has taken place. The ‘dolls are back, they’re pissed off and this time they mean every last fucking word.